


The View

by Geek_and_Nina



Series: Raylla [2]
Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F, Sherrif au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geek_and_Nina/pseuds/Geek_and_Nina
Summary: from across a tablefrom the top of a ridgeblue eyes even sparklier than the stars
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Series: Raylla [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734769
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	The View

The day had started in a completely typical manner. Raelle didn’t know how it had come to this. Her small part of The Cession never saw any trouble, and generally, that was how she liked it. As sheriff, up until now she only ever had the lightest of peace-keeping duties. Now she sat across an interrogation table from the hottest piece of trouble she had ever seen, holding an ice pack to a swelling eye.

“Ms. Ramshorn, you were found near a dismembered _corpse_ off of the interstate in the forest. According to reports you were found mentally incapacitated, unresponsive, and aggressive. The officer in question is still in the hospital.” Raelle did her best to maintain a dour expression. There was something in this young woman’s eyes that had her hypnotized. She couldn’t seem to look away. “However… all of this is only circumstantial. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“You are _truly_ one of the most gorgeous people I have ever seen. How have we never met before?” Scylla seemed to completely ignore everything Raelle had said, dark blue eyes twinkling with mischief. There was something unnatural about them, almost animalistic. Raelle was nervous just sitting across the table from her. Adrenaline flooded her system, her heart wouldn’t stop racing, and she kept her hands beneath the table to hide their shaking. The worst part was how much she _liked_ the way she was feeling.

“You do know that there are wolves in those woods you’re talking about, right? Big ones with sharp and pointy teeth. I would hazard a guess that they tore that ‘poor young woman’ apart… as they would anyone else who dared to encroach upon their territory.” Scylla continued with that same unshakable confidence. Raelle could feel herself losing control of the room.

“I have been aware of that for a long time. Everyone who lives in this town is, which makes it all the stranger for us to have found you there. Why would you risk it if you weren’t high out of your mind? There was something off when we found you.” Raelle’s voice held more concern and less authority that she would have liked. Scylla was in a cold metal chair, wearing a tight black tank-top and a small pair of black compression type shorts. It was a wonder she wasn’t still shivering. Raelle gestured for a cup of coffee to be brought in by one of the deputies she was sure were watching from the other side of the one-way window. She stood and draped her jacket across Scylla’s shoulders.

“I hate to break it to you, gorgeous, but a lot is going on in this town that you have no idea about. It is no fault of your own. You’re just… uninitiated and that is likely for the best. For your safety and everyone else’s.” Scyla insisted, pulling the jacket tighter around herself.

“Ms. Ramshorn…” Raelle began by saying, her voice tired and sad.

“Scylla.” Scylla cut the other woman off and corrected her.

“Scylla… if you’re in trouble somehow, I can help you. It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble. I am here because I want to protect the people of this town and I cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong here… there’s something you aren’t telling me. I need to know. Whatever it is, I need to know.” Raelle was annoyed and confused, going stonily silent as Deputy Swythe delivered the coffee and took her leave once more.

“Maybe one day, Sheriff. You don’t want to know. I promise. Once you’re in this, the only way out is through.” Scylla said with a warning in her voice.

“I am Sheriff Raelle Collar. This is my town. My home. My responsibility. You are _in my town_. That makes you my responsibility as well. If I can help you at all, I will. If you’ll let me.” Raelle sighed and leaned back in her chair, tucking some blonde hair out of her face and behind her ear.

“Oh, I can think of a _lot_ of things you can do for me.” Scylla chuckled and stood. “Given that I am here of my own volition, I would like to head on home. It’s getting late.”

“You are free to go.” Sheriff Raelle sounded truly exhausted and done with everything. “I know you know where we are, you know how to get a hold of us… be safe out there.”

Raelle stood and held the door open for the other young woman. She had been energized and ready for her day only about three hours before. Now she felt completely exhausted.

“I’ll be in my office. There’s paperwork and I have some thinking to do about… all of whatever that was. Only bother me if there’s an emergency.” Raelle dragged herself into the office and thumped her head against her desk. Everything about that encounter had left her mind spinning. It did not help that Scylla Ramshorn was a devastating kind of beautiful. Those animal wild, deep blue eyes would not be leaving her mind any time soon.

Raelle didn’t get any productive work done for the rest of the day. She pushed papers around, signed everything that needed her name, and handed out assignments as required. Raelle was barely moving on her way home and was ready to pass out when she fell through the door. She stirred only slightly when Tally came through the living room and covered her with a blanket. She distantly registered Abigail in the background making dinner.

Raelle didn’t fully wake until she heard a knock at the door. Feeling groggy and somewhat displaced, Raelle pulled herself up and to the door. She suspected for a moment she might still be dreaming when she opened the door to find the black hair and blue eyes.

“Scylla, what are you doing here? How do you know where I live?” Raelle stepped out and closed the door behind her, wanting to put a barrier between whatever this might be and her girls inside. It was instinctual to put herself between them and any potential threat.

“I didn’t realize until I got home that I had your jacket still, so I brought it here for you.” Scylla shrugged, somewhat sheepish. “I’m sorry, please don’t arrest me.”

Raelle chuckled to herself and accepted the jacket. “When I said that you knew where to find me, this isn’t exactly what I meant. It’s the only kind of terrifying that you managed to figure out where I live.” Raelle shuddered with a charming smile.

“I have been thinking about this a lot, and… if you are as determined to be the protector of this town… and _everyone_ in it, then there is something you deserve to know. Would you be willing to take a walk with me?”

Raelle questioned something so reckless for a moment. Earlier in the day she had suspected this woman of murder. “Sure thing, just let me leave a note for my roommates. They’re overprotective.” Raelle’s jaw clenched as she turned back into the house, scribbled something onto a notepad, and grabbed a pair of boots from the foyer. Raelle shut and locked the door behind her and sat on the front stoop to tie them on.

Scylla stood patiently, though she was a tightly coiled spring of nervous energy. She watched Raelle raptly, as though curious about something, as though she were trying to figure something out.

“So where are we headed?” Raelle asked, looking Scylla directly in the eyes. Despite obviously being thrown off her game, Raelle still moved and held herself with an absolute and steady sense of confidence. Scylla felt reassured just from Raelle’s presence. She wondered if that was a part of why she had found herself at the Sheriff’s front door.

“Follow me. We don’t have to go too far.” Scylla gestured and Raelle slowly began to follow as requested, deeply confused but equally intrigued.

Scylla led them through a break in the hills behind the house Raelle and her friends shared and into the woods that covered the Appalachian Mountains. Scylla walked confidently, leading Raelle to believe she had done this before, maybe multiple times. Maybe not exactly these parts of their small town, but Scylla knew her way around a forest. It quickly became clear Scylla was holding herself back from moving even faster. She wanted to run, Raelle could tell. Raelle did not know why but could tell from the energy barely held in tight muscles.

Raelle startled backward when Scylla jumped up onto a tree branch to swing herself quite athletically over a ledge. Her movements were a kind of easy Raelle couldn’t quite understand given the demand for what she had just pulled off. Raelle couldn’t even see a drop of sweat or sign of struggle on her face. Scylla looked back over her shoulder, turned, and almost completely lifted Raelle over. She didn’t let go of the young sheriff until she was set solidly down on her feet and regained her balance.

Raelle’s mind was spinning. No one should be able to do that with nigh upon no effort. There was still not a single sign of strain in her face. Raelle could see a sense of deep calm and peace in Scylla’s eyes that seemed to come from being deep in the woods. When she glanced around Raelle realized she truly had no idea where she was anymore and without Scylla, she might never be able to find her way back out. Her heart started to race again.

“Are you okay?” Scylla asked, her hand still hold Raelle’s elbow lightly.

“Yes, I just need you to show me whatever you’re going to show me… because my mind is going to some weird places, and I have to go to work tomorrow.” Raelle did her best to remain stoic and not allow the tremble she felt inside to reveal in her voice. Stubbornness would not allow her to admit her fear so she swallowed it as Scylla seemed to sit back and think of what she wanted to say next.

“We are almost there.” She seemed to land on as a reply. Raelle was not wholly comforted by this, but Scylla seemed certain, and that made her feel a bit better. She felt the turning point as she passed it by and swallowed roughly.

Both women fell quiet again as they trekked through the thick greenery. Raelle found herself enjoying the smell of the wet grass and trees. Birds chirped around them and Scylla smiled softly, contentedly. The change in Scylla was palpable now and Raelle appreciated it. Her shoulders relaxed back and her expression eased calmly.

They broke through a line of trees after a rough climb and into a clearing. A heavy mist flooded the area right above the ground. Raelle could feel other presences all around them. She was unsure if this was a manifestation of her nervousness or real and present danger. She decided to remain alert just in case. Scylla held up a hand for Raelle to halt as the dark-haired girl continued forward.

“You wanted to know about the things in your town that have been hidden from you. You wanted to know about how that girl died… how she was killed and how I was involved...if I was involved. I am sure you will be surprised to find I was also protecting our home, just in a different manner.” Scylla pulled off the light hoodie and her shoes as she continued to walk forward into the clearing, dropping the clothes as she moved.

Raelle was very confused by the actions but did as she was told, not because she had been told to, but because it felt right. Her eyes skimmed over the areas she would have wanted to linger because this was neither the time nor the place. She could hear an edge develop on Scylla’s voices she spoke; her tone getting deeper and rougher the most steps she took.

“Are you okay? You’re sounding, uhm, kinda rough there, gorgeous.” Raelle began to take a half-step forward before catching herself as moonlight lit Scylla up in front of her, as though all of the light had been drawn into a spotlight style column across her.

Scylla tilted her head back to bask in the way it felt across her skin. Raelle’s brows drew tight and her breath caught in her chest. Tingles lit in an almost sparkly feeling across the top of her skin. Raelle could tell something truly momentous was about to occur.  
“The Collar family is one of the few truly human bloodlines in this town and our kind have done our best to protect you, yours, and the other four lines. However, now that you have this position of protectors of the town, and you stumbled on this particular incident… you need to know now. Don’t interrupt this and don’t freak out. I’ll be fine, no matter how it seems.” Scylla’s growl-ish voice continued as the pressure in the air around them and the tingles escalated dramatically as the young woman melted to her knees.

Raelle was deeply concerned but frozen in place, as though she couldn’t remember how to move, much less to force her limbs forward. Darkness closed over Scylla once more; until a hulking, fur-covered, and inhuman form with glowing blue eyes. The wolf pushed to its… to _her_ full height, eyes level with Raelle’s chest.

“Were...werewolves?! Shape-shifter… oh, God. None of the things coming out of my mouth make sense.” Raelle’s hand drifted to her hip where her side-arm normally lived. She felt far more vulnerable than she liked without it. “Scylla… is that still you?” she asked hesitantly.

The Scylla wolf seemed to understand that she was making Raelle nervous and sat back onto her haunches. She bobbed her head gently as though to say ‘yes’ to being named as a werewolf.

“So, the girl in the woods… that _was_ you. You were protecting our town you said, and if you are a werewolf, she could be one as well. That’s why there was no sign of the wolf that mauled her… because you were the wolf that mauled her and you were right there under our noses. God, you must think I am an absolute idiot.” Raelle massaged at her eyes with the heels of her hands as she attempted to process what she had learned… and how it impacted her world. “So, you aren’t alone. My town is full of your kind.” Realization dawned on her once more.

Four more wolves stepped out of the shadows then, to flank Scylla. Some were bigger, some were smaller, and in a variety of shades of black, grey, and brown. They were all much larger than the average wolf, somewhere between the much larger Alaskan wolves and a very small bear. They were fierce, magical, and above all…” _beautiful_.” She said aloud, unthinkingly..

“May I approach now?” Raelle asked, feeling as though she was no longer rooted to the spot.

“Scylla turned to the other wolves, as though checking with them and nodded her large head awkwardly. Raelle took small and cautious steps forward as Scylla and her friends, her pack? She ran her hands through the fur on top of Scylla’s wolf’s head to no protest, just the contented closing of crystalline blue eyes. A scratch behind the ears earned her a contented swish of the tail and Raelle chuckled to herself.

“I don’t know what to think and I certainly don’t know how to feel. Hell, I’m not clear if I’m awake right now or if someone slipped me something, but I do know that you are _beautiful_.” Raelle spoke softly as she took a better look at the other wolves around her.

“I’m unclear as to who the rest of you might be, but you are all gorgeous... if you aren’t hallucinations. One day, I hope that you might trust me enough to allow me to know your identities. I promise I will do everything in my power to not let you down.” She promised, just in case she wasn’t crazy. Raelle meant every word of it too. She looked at each of the wolves in the eyes. Each gave her a short bark in reply. A happy sound, not an angry one. Raelle smiled back at them, a bright expression that lit up her whole face.

Scylla was glad to see it, and though she had known of Raelle Collar, Sheriff of the Cession for a long while (and voted for her even) she had never seen this expression. The acceptance turned to determination which slowly caved to the joy she now radiated. For the first time in a long time, Scylla found herself bristling at the limitations she currently found in her wolf form. She had never attempted to communicate with someone of solely human blood while in this shape. Scylla wanted to talk, laugh, and touch with human hands.

Raelle watched as Scylla loped back to the closest item of clothing she had discarded and turned her back to the wolf-woman to offer privacy. She turned her attention to the other wolves who continued to watch her warily with large glowing eyes of various blues, greens, browns, golds. Some approached and offered themselves for appraisal, appearing to preen at compliments she quietly offered them. Raelle suspected there were more of their kind scattered amongst the tree-line, just out of sight, but no longer rankled at the feeling of eyes on her. She knew now that she was the one now being taken under careful consideration.

Raelle could not unlearn the truths she had been told and knew she was now in a much more precarious position than she was at the start of the now very long day. Scylla cleared her throat in her human voice before coming to stand a respectful distance from Raelle.

“You have learned the what and the how. Are you ready to hear why?” Scylla asked, in the same tank top and shorts she had worn in the interrogation room earlier that day. She showed no signs that the brisk air affected her at all. 

“My brain already feels so full I’m not sure how much more I can take… but go ahead and lay it on me. Could it possibly get any weirder?” Raelle knelt amongst the wolves and they pressed up against her and brushed against her side. Sylla sat down and continued to pet the wolves. As they enjoyed the stars and the group of wolves around them, Scylla began to speak in a low and even tone about the history and current events of the wolves she called her family.

Raelle found herself enraptured; the effect compounded by the night, the presence of the ever-growing numbers of the pack around them, and the smells of the forest around them. Scylla’s voice was a gentle addition to those factors, pulling Raelle into her world. She walked wordlessly in the other woman’s wake through the forest as she listened, not realizing where they were going, she was so invested in what Scylla was saying.

Raelle let her fingers lace with Scylla’s as though from second nature, completely unintentionally. She felt good with the way the smaller woman’s hand felt in hers.

“I can’t believe I have never seen this view before. There’s my house… the school… the park. How beautiful.” Raelle’s voice went low and reverent; Scylla’s hand tightened around her own, comfortingly and accepting. The stars flickered above their heads and nature sounds provided a background of quiet music and a peaceful ambiance. The werewolf woman radiated a soft kind of warmth where their shoulders brushed now and again, easing Raelle’s anxious heart.

“Yeah,” Scylla replied, her eyes not drifting from Raelle’s face even once. When she turned to meet Scylla’s eyes, she found herself thinking back to the morning. Her day started out simply enough. Abigail had made a fantastic breakfast that morning and Raelle had taken her time reporting for work because generally, her town was a peaceful one beside the odd ticket or scuffle. She was completely flabbergasted by her day.

This isn’t anything I saw coming. But, _Scylla_...” Raelle spoke her name softly, barely audible on an exhale, finding herself interrupted by a soft pair of lips on her own.

“I feel the _exact_ same way.” Scylla spoke quietly as Raelle’s hand lifted to cup the shorter woman’s face, trailing along her jawline until her thumb and forefinger were holding Scylla’s chin in place for another kiss, then another, and another.


End file.
